One principal cause of the American revolution was the ongoing, despised Crown issuance of "Writs of Assistance," e.g., impressment of the private sector in the hunt for miscreants and malcontents.

Writs, like old clothes, are now back in fashion.

SEC. 702. PROCEDURES FOR TARGETING CERTAIN PERSONS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES OTHER THAN UNITED STATES PERSONS...

...(h) Directives and Judicial Review of Directives-

(1) AUTHORITY- With respect to an acquisition authorized under subsection (a), the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence may direct, in writing, an electronic communication service provider to--

(A) immediately provide the Government with all information, facilities, or assistance necessary to accomplish the acquisition in a manner that will protect the secrecy of the acquisition and produce a minimum of interference with the services that such electronic communication service provider is providing to the target of the acquisition; and

(B) maintain under security procedures approved by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence any records concerning the acquisition or the aid furnished that such electronic communication service provider wishes to maintain.

(2) COMPENSATION- The Government shall compensate, at the prevailing rate, an electronic communication service provider for providing information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with a directive issued pursuant to paragraph (1).

(3) RELEASE FROM LIABILITY- No cause of action shall lie in any court against any electronic communication service provider for providing any information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with a directive issued pursuant to paragraph (1)...

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(3) constitutes a neat-o little dessert dish of prospective blanket indemnity for being Writees.

Why don't you ask those specific questions of your senators and congressman? That's what I'm doing, after at least taking the trouble to read the legislation, so I know what to question and complain about. Have you read HR 6304?

What alternatives do you suggest? Yeah, it sucks, the whole thing. But, sitting back and letting others doing my interpretive thinking for me is not something I will do.

So, yeah, maybe that language is just a sop, a formality, and, of course, we all know that Bu'ush will issue a signing statement saying he'll abide by the sections that he agrees with and will ignore the others.

I dunno, and while IANAL, I at least repeatedly take the fucking trouble to actually read the details and understand them. I'm not seeing a lot of that this week, just a lot of glandular hyperventilating.

"Everyone knows what the written directives from the President say."

Yeah, even a slug like me knows that. C'mon.

So, -- beyond telecom indemnity -- you're saying 702(b)(5) is window dressing as well?

A Bill of Attainder is one wherein you legislatively "charge/convict" someone of a crime. Look it up. Similarly, an ex post facto law would be one where you make something illegal and then prosecute people who engaged in the acts while they were still lawful. Can't do that.

You've got these backwards.

Glenn writes

"The court most certainly does not decide if the Government letters to telecoms "show that the government was really after terrorist suspects and not innocent Americans." To the contrary, the judge is barred from examining the real reasons this spying occurred. The judge has only one role: dismiss the lawsuits as long as the Attorney General -- Bush's Attorney General -- claims that the spying was "designed to prevent or detect a terrorist attack.""

(He's referencing part of 802(a) in HR6304 from his prior post)

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I'm trying to reconcile that (that judges have no say) with this, right below that in 802:

(b) Judicial Review-

`(1) REVIEW OF CERTIFICATIONS- A certification under subsection (a) shall be given effect unless the court finds that such certification is not supported by substantial evidence provided to the court pursuant to this section.

`(2) SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS- In its review of a certification under subsection (a), the court may examine the court order, certification, written request, or directive described in subsection (a) and any relevant court order, certification, written request, or directive submitted pursuant to subsection (d).

Moreover, 702(b)(5) states that issuance of surveillance FISA orders "the targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States to acquire foreign intelligence information..." "(5) shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United States."

Now, I'm as concerned as anyone about the Bu'ush administration's repeated pissing on the Constitution, and take a back seat to no one in defending the 4th Amendment, but it troubles me to see so many people shooting from the lip about this whole deal having never read the legislative proposal and trusting the likes of Mr. Greenwald to give us the complete and unbiased take on this.

I guess I'll now be summarily admonished that naive GULNs like me ( Great Unwashed Non-Lawyers) should just STFU and leave it to the experts. Yeah, it bothers me that we seem to be returning to colonial era General Warrants and Writs of Assistance (the latter accorded blanket indemnity), but 702(b)(5) alone seems to be inviting SCOTUS to have the last word on this bill should it pass as currently written.

btw, John Dean pointed out that the telecom indemnity extends only to civil suits, leaving open the possibility of criminal actions down the road, perhaps at the behest of a DOJ under a President Obama. Of course, maybe the Senate will snuff out that little oversight forthwith in the next rev.